Tag Archive for Symbolism

In February of 2011 Catherine Field wrote an op-ed for The New York Times that argued the attributes of letter writing. Using her mother-in-law as an example, Field suggested that while email provides immediacy, letters establish intimacy. While true, consider the last time you actually received a letter. Not just a birthday card but an actual letter.

Time taken on letter writing seems non-existent, yet we see evidence of correspondence everywhere. President Obama reads 10 letters each day, often answering two or three of those in his own hand. Carolyn Hax, a syndicated advice columnist for The Washington Post, responds to a variety of correspondence on a daily basis. Most major publications allow for “letters to the editor” regardless of their format. Still, how many of your students actually know how to craft a letter or even an email in a way that is both engaging and appropriate?

We’ve spent this entire week discussing how to use Letters of Note as a “textual” resource. But the site itself is evidence that fan letters do get answered. The exercise today uses the resources from of Letters of Note and the Maria Popova’s post on Brain Pickings, a resource we’ve highlighted in the past, about a high school student’s Symbolism Survey.

Have students read Popova’s overview as well as original story from The Paris Review that provides a bit more background.

Have students discuss what would motivate an author or any celebrity to respond to a “fan.” Have them examine letters from fans at Letters of Note. I’ve included a moving example below from a parent to Patrick Stewart in regards to her son’s love of Star Trek before Duchenne muscular dystrophy ended his life.

Ask that students review responses to fan letters from Letters of Note. You will want to select examples in advance as some of them have language inappropriate for school. I’ve included some examples below. Consider having them SOAPSTone, etc.

You might then assign students the task of constructing their own letter based on those characteristics necessary to engage a person in the public eye. A person they believe has little chance of responding to them. Now, that could honestly be anyone but you might want to theme your focus. You could set limits making it a living author or writer you’ve studied. Have them write to columnists at The New York Times or The Washington Post. Consider having them write to Brian Williams or Anderson Cooper. Think about having them write to David Sedaris, Jonathan Safran Foer, Amy Tan, Ian McEwan, Khaled Hosseini, Sara Gruen, Aravind Adiga, or any author represented in your course. You might even have them write a documentary filmmaker if you’ve used any in class. The end goal is to have students practice voice and to get a response. They should come up with a way to do this without many limits/parameters. A “fictionalized” conversation with Hemingway simply won’t do. They need to struggle with the idea that this could actually be read and that filling in space won’t suffice. Finally, have them give you a copy and have them mail one. I’d even suggest displaying the best ones with the student’s permission of course.